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Crypto Roundtable with Nick Tomaino & Kyle Samani: US Elections, NFTs, and Trump | E1100

Hiive is the marketplace for private stock. Whether you run a fund, lead an investing syndicate, or invest solo, Hiive gives you unparalleled access to some of the most exciting companies in the world, all before they go public. Create a free account today at hiive.com/20vc. ----------------------------------------------- Nick Tomaino is the Founder and General Partner @ 1confirmation, one of the leading seed firms fueling the decentralization of the web and society. The fund started with $26M and the firm now has over $1B in assets under management. Nick is famed for being one of the first investors in OpenSea. Kyle Samani is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner @ Multicoin Capital, one of the leading crypto native funds of the last decade with positions in Solana, FTX, Fractal, and Helium to name a few. ----------------------------------------------- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:44) Will Crypto Grow Past Speculation? (04:27) Excessive Speculation vs. Shilling (07:17) Is Shilling Good? (10:07) Solana vs. Ethereum (18:05) Unique Use Cases on Solana (24:43) Are Talents Leaving Crypto? (26:13) Crypto Purists & Maximalists (26:55) Does Authenticity Matter? (33:10) SBF and FTX (37:21) Difference Between SBF and CZ (38:29) SEC Targeting Coinbase and Kraken (41:46) How Will US Elections Impact Crypto? (45:20) Is Trump Good for Crypto? (46:21) IPO Predictions for Crypto Companies (46:47) Will NFTs Make a Comeback? (48:02) Identifying Vaporware in the Crypto Ecosystem (49:06) Quick-Fire Round ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode We Discuss: 1. Moving Away from a Shitcoin Casino: What will it take for crypto to move away from being shitcoin casino? Why does Nick believe that “crypto has been a free for all and greed got the better of people”? Why does Nick believe that crypto shilling will reduce the amount of violence in the world? 2. FTX: The Biggest Ponzi Scheme in Plain sight: How does Kyle reflect on SBF and FTX today? Should he have known it was a fraud? How did Nick see so far ahead of time that SBF was not genuine? What are the most striking lessons when comparing Coinbase’s Superbowl advert to FTX’s? 3. Where Politics and Crypto Collide: SBF was one of the largest donors to Biden, what does this say about the rise of “crony capitalism”? What candidates running in the election will be best for crypto? Why will Trump win the election and be the first President to rule from a prison cell? Why is the strategy pursued by Gensler and the SEC so flawed? 4. The Great NFT Comeback, The Crypto IPO Season: What will be the next crypto company to IPO? When? When will NFTs come back? What will cause this? Will Opensea ever be worth $13BN again? What is their future? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Nick Tomaino on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NTmoney Follow Kyle Samani on Twitter https://twitter.com/KyleSamani Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #VentureCapital #NickTomaino #KyleSamani #Multicoincapital #1confirmation #2024elections #2024predictions #harrystebbings #crypto #trump #20vc

Harry StebbingshostNick TomainoguestKyle Samaniguest
Jan 7, 202454mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Crypto’s Future: Speculation, Solana vs Ethereum, Elections, and Authenticity

  1. Harry Stebbings hosts a roundtable with investors Kyle Samani (Multicoin Capital) and Nick Tomaino (1confirmation) on the current and future state of crypto. They debate whether crypto can move beyond speculation into real-world utility, with Kyle emphasizing DeFi, DePIN, and stablecoin payments, and Nick stressing that speculation itself can be empowering but must be channeled responsibly.
  2. A central clash is over Solana’s role and originality versus Ethereum and Cosmos, touching on decentralization, ideological differences, and the ecosystem’s more overtly commercial, ‘capitalist’ orientation. They also unpack authenticity and shilling, how to spot bad actors like SBF and FTX, and why vibes and counter-signals can matter as much as hard data.
  3. Policy and politics loom large: they discuss SEC enforcement, Coinbase/Kraken lawsuits, crony capitalism, and how the 2024 U.S. election (including Trump’s stance and NFT activity) may shape crypto’s regulatory future. The conversation closes on NFTs’ long‑term prospects, vaporware tokens, and what each wants crypto to look like in 5–10 years.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Speculation is a feature, not just a bug—if channeled productively.

Both guests agree crypto is highly speculative today, but Kyle argues speculation can fund real infrastructure (e.g., DePIN, DeFi), while Nick notes permissionless speculation empowers those shut out of traditional systems—though excessive, greed‑driven speculation creates blowups like FTX and Terra/Luna.

Solana’s differentiation is speed, commercial orientation, and new primitives, but critics still see ‘Ethereum copies.’

Nick views most successful Solana apps as copies of Ethereum use cases and questions its unique contribution so far, while Kyle counters that on‑chain order books, compressed NFTs at scale, and DePIN networks (Helium, Hivemapper) are genuinely new unlocks enabled by Solana’s design and ecosystem strategy.

Authenticity and ‘vibes’ are powerful filters in an open, copyable ecosystem.

Nick argues that in the long run, authentic builders who stay true to themselves and their missions win, even if louder copycats out‑market them in the short term; he cites his early unease with SBF/FTX as a ‘vibe check’ and example of counter‑signals revealing inauthenticity.

Regulatory posture is heavily political, and different chairs produce very different crypto climates.

They contrast Jay Clayton’s more market-friendly SEC with Gary Gensler’s activist, enforcement‑heavy approach, arguing that leadership appointments (influenced by donors like SBF) and the broader ‘administrative state’ shape how aggressively agencies target actors such as Coinbase and Kraken.

The 2024 U.S. election could materially shift crypto regulation—but innovation likely continues regardless.

Kyle expects a Republican administration to appoint a more crypto‑friendly SEC chair; Nick lists several pro‑crypto candidates (Trump, DeSantis, Vivek, Dean Phillips, RFK Jr.) but stresses that even hostile administrations haven’t stopped core innovation, just slowed U.S. participation and worsened optics.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

The demand for speculation globally is much larger than people previously thought.

— Kyle Samani

Speculation is a very good thing for the world… but excessive speculation can clearly be bad.

— Nick Tomaino

Solana is, like, very directly capitalist in the more traditional sense of the word.

— Kyle Samani

From the very beginning, [FTX] felt very inauthentic… the vibes were off.

— Nick Tomaino

I want everyone in the world to have a private key built into their phone… that they can use for arbitrary financial movements.

— Kyle Samani

Speculation vs real utility in crypto (DeFi, DePIN, payments)Solana vs Ethereum and Cosmos: ideology, centralization, and originalityShilling, tribalism, authenticity, and influencer behavior in cryptoFTX, SBF, CZ/Binance: red flags, counter-signals, and falloutRegulation, the SEC (Gensler), Coinbase/Kraken, and crony capitalismU.S. elections, Trump/Biden, and how politics affect crypto’s trajectoryFuture of NFTs, on-chain messaging, stablecoins, and consumer adoption

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